Kentfield parents speak out on disputed space at Kent Middle School

Parents turned out this week to make their case to the county Board of Education that space at Kent Middle School housing a county special-needs program should return to local school district control.

About two dozen Kentfield parents showed up to the board meeting Tuesday to speak on why they think the county office should relocate Grant Grover School, its facility for special-needs students on the Kent campus.

The facility is owned by the Kentfield School District but has remained under county control despite a lawsuit filed by the district to take the space back.

"We're asking for a win-win situation," Karen Loebbaka, a Kentfield parent and president of the district's PTA, said to the county board. "We need the space, and we appeal to you to figure out how to do it, and quickly."

The parents spoke on various concerns, such as cramped space in the classrooms and safety issues stemming from more and more children on the playground during recess leading to more injury-inducing collisions.

While they lauded Grant Grover's service, Kentfield parents said the facility would be better used if it were to serve up to 150 Kent Middle School students rather than Grant Grover's 40 or so special-needs students.

At Grant Grover, the special-needs students, mostly 18 to 22 years old, are taught basic life skills for living on their own. One of the advantages of its location is that Kent Middle is across the street from the College of Marin, where some of the Grant Grover students attend classes, county officials said.

"It was just a matter of time until the parents, who are also taxpayers in the district, saw the overcrowding at Bacich (Elementary School) has a potential solution, which is the 6,500 square feet at Grant Grover," Kentfield Superintendent Liz Schott said. "They're saying, 'Why is it that our kids are suffering when there is a building that we have title to?"

The dispute is whether, in fact, the district or the county office has rights to the facility.

The district says that because it owns the property, it has the right take over use of the facility. The county says it has "a contractual and statutory right" to use the facility as long it desires.

"We're sympathetic and we know they need the space, and we're willing to help, but it is up to them to find a solution," said county board member David Hellman. "They feel they're entitled (to the Grant Grover facility), but so far the court hasn't gone along with that."

Kentfield School District filed a lawsuit against the county office. A judge upheld demurrers from the county office attorney, but allowed the district to amend its complaint.

When the property was acquired from the College of Marin more than 40 years ago, it was put into the Kentfield School District's title as an incentive for the district to house the special education facility, said Bob Henry, the county office's attorney, adding that at the time, districts were reluctant to house such a facility and thus needed an incentive to do so.

Like most school districts in southern Marin, Kentfield has seen an explosion in enrollment. Just in the last two years, it went from about 1,160 students to 1,240 — with more growth expected.

Allan Whitescarver, who has three children at Kent and will have a fourth there in the fall, said the crowding hasn't had a negative impact on his children, but "I feel it is going to start having a materially adverse effect on the quality of education students are receiving at Kent School if the crowding issue is not eased."

The solution, Whitescarver said, is for the county to vacate Grant Grover.

The county office said it is willing to accommodate, but only if the Kentfield district pays for a Grant Grover move.

Hellman said the county office has explored options for potential relocations, "but we aren't going to move forward on any of those things without a commitment from Kentfield to put money into it."